WIP Update

First off, I'm sad. I finally went back to the Sock A Month 4 Knitalong to blog about my January sock and found out that it was only through December! I could have sworn it was until January...and signups for SAM5 are closed. Ah well. I am sure I will still be knitting a pair of socks or two per month.

We interrupt the Blocking series to give you a WIP update. Also because I have not gotten FO shots of Swan Lake (MS3) yet due to the fact that it's been crappy and Rochester-y here, and because if I want a picture of it on myself, I need a photographer. Which requires bribing Lee. I don't really have any good bribes right now. As for the update: I've finished a few more things, which is really good because I got an order from KnitPicks on Tuesday, and you all know how it is when you get new yarn...

I finished Guinevere, which means I have finished two stoles and therefore can start another new stole. Guinevere was made from KnitPicks Bare Merino Laceweight, dyed using a couple colors of Kool-Aid, and some black beads. I wasn't sure if I'd like the subtle variegations that came from stirring the yarn religiously, then letting it get too hot while forgetting to stir it while the entirety of the dye was soaked in. If you want solid colored yarn, you have to stir it up so the dye gets soaked in evenly. If you just leave it, you get differences in color. The inner bits of the skein stay lighter, and some outer bits get all the color. I do like how it turned out, though I'm still not thrilled with the design. I had only a very little bit of yarn left from the 880 yards I made it with, using US4s, and I did not alter the pattern at all, so that made me happy, since the recommended yardage is 1000 - 1200 yds. Here it is:

Actual nice FO shots forthcoming. I swear.

This one is much skinnier and longer than Swan Lake. It may actually be too skinny...but I'm going to go with it. I may even wear it as part of my costume next weekend when I play Gertrude (the Queen) in the 15-Minute Hamlet, by Tom Stoppard. You can look it up on YouTube and see an ...interesting... version of it if you've no idea what I'm talking about. Ours will be better than that one. Not sure by how much, exactly, but better! Here's the stole I've started since I've finished two and can with a clear conscience start another:

Sorry for the blur!

It's the Path of Flowers Shawl by Chrissy Gardiner, who, by the way, has an awesome shirt (Auburn Camp Shirt) in the Spring Interweave. If I knew I'd have a permanent address for the next year, I'd say a great birthday gift would be a subscription, but I don't have an address, so I shall just drool over it now and maybe get it when it hits newsstands. I want to make the Linen Trumpet Skirt, the Auburn Camp Shirt, and the Banded Peasant Blouse. /aside, the stole is made from KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint with size US6 needles, and will be a birthday present for my Grandmother when I go see her in March. Stop laughing, I swear it will be done!

I've also finally sewn the button onto my RIT Stadium Blanket. Apparently I didn't ever actually post about it (it was to be one of those failed NaWriBloMo posts) so I'll go into detail on that one later. It would make this one too long. With that one and the Hemlock Ring done, I have two blankets finished, and so can start another one. I'm using that credit to start a sweater, the Telemark Ski Sweater, for my mom, as her fiftieth birthday is coming up.

No progress yet, though I have the yarn and the pattern. She wants one in the same colors as the model, but as a cardigan instead of as a sweater. I think it'll lend itself nicely to cardigan-izing. I also got a couple extra skeins of the blue and black so I can make a nice button band all the way down. See, thinking ahead, I can do that sometimes!

I finished a second pair of socks for this month as well, and these are for my sister:

Mix and Match Rib Socks, Hourglass Rib

This gives me two socks finished, so I can start another pair of socks. I do have three pairs of socks for me I want to do, one that I really should start as it's a design that I have figured out, just need to test, four pairs for next Christmas and I bought yarn for another pair of socks in my last KnitPicks order. I know, I know, I broke my own no yarn for me rule, but it's not my fault! I had a $51.04 order, $1.04 over their free shipping limit. So I went to check out, and there was shipping added! What's going on? Oh. The Telemark pattern is $1.29, but doesn't count for shipping since I can download it. I'm $0.25 under the free shipping cost. A frigging quarter! So instead of doing something intelligent, like paying the extra $1.70 for them to ship me a printed copy of the pattern and therefore getting shipping, I decided that one can always use more sock yarn. And who knows, they might not be for me...

Instead of starting another pair of socks, though, I've started Henry. When I first looked at this design, I said, that looks cool. It will match my grandfather's hat and look nice for Church in the cold. Then I saw that it was made from fingering weight (sock) yarn. So it'll take awhile. But it's 227 stitches and about 175 rows, that's not that bad, right? Yeah. If you read line two of the pattern, it says to K1, YO across. As in, practically double the number of stitches on the needles. 452 stitches times 175 rows does not sound as do-able as the 227 stitches. Here's where the foresight would have come in handy! But, I have it started, it's really a very intuitive pattern once you see where it's going, and I might not make it the full 8" across. Anyway, here's what I have so far:

Again with the blur.

This is made using KnitPicks Palette in Ash, and size US2 and US3 needles.

I am chugging along, but for now I'm going to focus on my grandparent's and my mom's gifts. I'll try for more WIP shots, especially with the ski sweater, but I probably won't have FOs to show for a bit.